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Directv vs AT&T Uverse quality wise? - Page 4

post #91 of 348
1/17/13 at 4:28am
I actually signed up for DirecTV yesterday, something I swore I'd never do. I hear lots of complaints in my area from people who lose the signal due to weather related stuff. Here in Oklahoma we get a lot of clouds and thunderstorms etc...so this is a risk for me. But I wanted something that was an improvement over UVerse PQ wise, I just wonder if I'm really going to get and see that.

I like that DirecTV has the HD menu GUI, a nice whole home DVR, the most HD channel lineup, etc, etc...I just hope I don't feel buyers remorse after its installed. I like that the tables have turned with DirecTV, give me hope that I'm joining them at the right time. My friend had them for 6 years and said he was always searching for a signal, was glad to get away from them, said I'll be mad when I run into the same issues. My hopes are he had older hardware and didn't get make full use of a maintenance plan to have them out to update and fix signal issues.
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post #92 of 348
1/17/13 at 6:06am
mdavj & chrisjmccord, if you go look at the national lineups, Direct does not have more HD channels than UVerse. They may have more "programming" in the way of making people think there is more movies & tv shows available through OnDemand, or the channel lineup, but in reality they do not. Brighthouse & Uverse are the top two when it comes to the most HD channels available to the consumers.
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post #93 of 348
1/17/13 at 8:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregzoll View Post

mdavj & chrisjmccord, if you go look at the national lineups, Direct does not have more HD channels than UVerse. They may have more "programming" in the way of making people think there is more movies & tv shows available through OnDemand, or the channel lineup, but in reality they do not. Brighthouse & Uverse are the top two when it comes to the most HD channels available to the consumers.

Very interesting post and something I didn't consider, I just listened to the "salesman" speech.
Is there anyone who has a link to where we can compare DTV, Dish, UVerse HD lineups with each other side by side. To see who has this channel and who doesn't etc...? That would be nice to know what I'm missing on what and what I'm getting on what.
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post #94 of 348
1/17/13 at 8:40am
Yes it is right here on this ste. It is called the National Lineup.
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post #95 of 348
1/17/13 at 9:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregzoll View Post

Yes it is right here on this ste. It is called the National Lineup.

I saw one but it didn't seem to be updated since 2012...maybe I saw a different one?
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post #96 of 348
1/17/13 at 9:13am
Wow AT&T UVerse has HUB but DTV doesn't, that will hurt my 3 year old son who loves HUB.
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post #97 of 348
1/17/13 at 9:22am
Title must be wrong. It was updated a month or two ago. DirecTV just added about 8 new HD channels in test a few days ago. I agree that channel counts don't tell the whole story, but these latest additions should put DirecTV close to everyone else. DirecTV OnDemand content is actually quite extensive.

When I had satellite I probably had rain fade less than 1 hour per year. If someone has constant signal issues there is something seriously wrong with the install.

No worries on HUB. That list is only HD. So DirecTV has it, just not in HD yet. It may even be one of the 8 in test. I don't remember exactly.
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post #98 of 348
1/17/13 at 9:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by gregzoll View Post

Yes it is right here on this ste. It is called the National Lineup.

I saw one but it didn't seem to be updated since 2012...maybe I saw a different one?
He updates it about every quarter.
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post #99 of 348
1/17/13 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Title must be wrong. It was updated a month or two ago. DirecTV just added about 8 new HD channels in test a few days ago. I agree that channel counts don't tell the whole story, but these latest additions should put DirecTV close to everyone else. DirecTV OnDemand content is actually quite extensive.

When I had satellite I probably had rain fade less than 1 hour per year. If someone has constant signal issues there is something seriously wrong with the install.

No worries on HUB. That list is only HD. So DirecTV has it, just not in HD yet. It may even be one of the 8 in test. I don't remember exactly.

Ok thanks. HUB HD is on UVerse, so it sucks to love that in a move over, but I bet its coming soon in HD.
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post #100 of 348
1/17/13 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

Ok thanks. HUB HD is on UVerse, so it sucks to love that in a move over, but I bet its coming soon in HD.

Chris,

Here is the link comparing channel availability. As others mentioned, it gets updated periodically so it may not be up to the minute.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1058081/official-avs-national-hd-channel-lineups-cable-dbs-fiber-iptv-updated-11-03-12

HUB is available on DTV, channel 294 in OK. Don't know if it is HD though.
http://www.hubworld.com/

As someone who has had both DTV and UVerse in the last year I can tell you that each service has it's pros/cons, and the best service for you will depend on what's important to you.

Uverse Pros:
1) no need for a contract
2) probably less downtime due to weather, not to mention that there is no need for an unsightly dish on your roof
3) more premium HD movie channels available (eg. HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz)
4) bundled savings available with phone and internet

DTV advantages:
1) Picture quality
2) More premium sports packages available (NFL Sunday Ticket, NHL, MLB, Major golf championships exclusive additional channels)

I would also suggest that the total HD channel count for any provider is not meaningful, as they all include PPV channels in their counts. What is important is if a given provider has the channels that you are looking for.

I think you will be very happy with the Direct TV picture quality........also I had very few outages in the 2.5 yrs that I had the service. Maybe a couple of hours total.
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post #101 of 348
1/17/13 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdavej View Post

Fiber To The Home means fiber from the provider all the way to your house, like Verizon FIOS. Hybrid Fiber Coax is like many cable tv systems where some is fiber, but the part going to your house is coax. Both have far more bandwidth than the telephone wires used by Uverse. Satellite uses coax from the Dish and would have bandwidth like cable, but not every channel is tranitted at the same time like non-SDV (switched digital video) cable.

Bottom line is Uverse has the smallest pipe of all, so it will never match satellite, cable or FIOS. It's physically impossible.

All that being said, is it a good idea? I think so. It provides quite good quality for a much smaller capital investment than running new cables to hundreds of millions of homes. That's why FIOS is in so few markets and probably won't have any more growth anytime soon.

The issue is not the cost, but rather the investors, who have such a bad case of investing ADD that they can't see past that quarter, to the long term, where the copper providers will either put in FTTH, or die. There is no other option. U-Verse is an extremely limited kludge. I think IPTV is ultimately the future for telco TV, even though FIOS is using a regular QAM256 system that is cable TV. IPTV, given the bandwidth of fiber, would be amazing. U-Verse was made to rival or beat what the cable companies could do 2 or 3 years ago. It just can't keep up, and the cable companies have several more tricks up their sleeves, like new DOCSIS technologies, full SDV, 1GHZ, small nodes, MPEG-4 or HEVC, and others that will allow them to get more and more out of their systems whereas U-Verse is pretty much tapped out for bandwidth.

If AT&T and their investors knew what the heck they were doing, they would have a plan laid out for the next 15-20 years to do 100% FTTH coverage across their whole footprint, and after covering their own major metro areas, start overbuilding areas that don't have FIOS or Google Fiber.
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post #102 of 348
1/17/13 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

I actually signed up for DirecTV yesterday, something I swore I'd never do. I hear lots of complaints in my area from people who lose the signal due to weather related stuff. Here in Oklahoma we get a lot of clouds and thunderstorms etc...so this is a risk for me. But I wanted something that was an improvement over UVerse PQ wise, I just wonder if I'm really going to get and see that.

If they mount the dish right, there will be no issues. The guy who sits next to me at work was watching DirecTV during Sandy with 80+ Mph winds and driving rain coming off of the water.
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post #103 of 348
1/17/13 at 6:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PlanetAVS View Post

Chris,

Here is the link comparing channel availability. As others mentioned, it gets updated periodically so it may not be up to the minute.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1058081/official-avs-national-hd-channel-lineups-cable-dbs-fiber-iptv-updated-11-03-12

HUB is available on DTV, channel 294 in OK. Don't know if it is HD though.
http://www.hubworld.com/

As someone who has had both DTV and UVerse in the last year I can tell you that each service has it's pros/cons, and the best service for you will depend on what's important to you.

Uverse Pros:
1) no need for a contract
2) probably less downtime due to weather, not to mention that there is no need for an unsightly dish on your roof
3) more premium HD movie channels available (eg. HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz)
4) bundled savings available with phone and internet

DTV advantages:
1) Picture quality
2) More premium sports packages available (NFL Sunday Ticket, NHL, MLB, Major golf championships exclusive additional channels)

I would also suggest that the total HD channel count for any provider is not meaningful, as they all include PPV channels in their counts. What is important is if a given provider has the channels that you are looking for.

I think you will be very happy with the Direct TV picture quality........also I had very few outages in the 2.5 yrs that I had the service. Maybe a couple of hours total.

Thanks for this info! I appreciate it.
So which service do you have right now?
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post #104 of 348
1/17/13 at 8:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

Thanks for this info! I appreciate it.
So which service do you have right now?

I'm on Dish Network, only because the Direct TV installer said I had too many trees in my area. So far I'm pretty happy with it. Pricing is slightly lower than Direct TV. Picture quality is surprisingly good.

When is your Direct TV installation? Let us know what you think of it.
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post #105 of 348
1/17/13 at 9:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PlanetAVS View Post

I'm on Dish Network, only because the Direct TV installer said I had too many trees in my area. So far I'm pretty happy with it. Pricing is slightly lower than Direct TV. Picture quality is surprisingly good.

When is your Direct TV installation? Let us know what you think of it.

Its not till the 27th, so I have time to make sure I want to really do this.
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post #106 of 348
1/17/13 at 10:47pm
I was a loyal DTV customer. I thouht I'd never switch ... Even though the signal would go out when it was super windy, etc., I loved it. However, what I loved most was the NFL Ticket. About 4 years ago Uverse came by and we opted to try it. We kept our Direct TV in our family room and had Uverse there and in all other rooms. I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO DIRECT TV!!!!!! Here are my reasons:

1) the on demand options for Uverse are so much better. You can go from kids shows, to network to premium chanels and then you can get basically any movie out there, as well ... The new featured movies or just in are at a normal cost for on demand, then there's 100'sof other movies for $2.00's ... If you have the Premium stations, all is catagorized so you never need to pay to see anything you want that's airing on those stations ever at any time (ie: HBO, SHOWTIME, etc.)

2) I like the Uverse HD picture quality better.

3) You can record and watch 4 things at once. I know DTV just made their's 5, but the DVR has less space and Uverse will soon be adding up to 6 at once. Watch a dif as you record ... Love it.

4) The interactive usage is also fabulous. From playing games, to to FB, kids multiview in HD, the family map, HSN by remote, weather and local, a food network app, managing your account, flickr and the uverse interactive channel for everything you want to know and need to know, if you choose.

5) my internet speed is extraordinary and so is my landline service which is so much cheaper having this all hubbed together.

If you are a huge TV watcher, love options, don't want to lose service due to weather, etc. and need fast an dgreat wireless then Uverse is the one you want. Again, I never thought I'd like it. Its so much better ...

6) Also there's the new box where you can move it anywhere and that also means you can take your tv with it ... Go outside, etc. You're not stuck in a spot if you want to shift a room around.

I have a friend who FINALLY just got off his blackberry for his new iphone 5 ... Also a DTV user, lol! He said he would never like the iphone more than the BB. Well, he LOVES his iPhone. He also keeps telling me that nothing compares to DTV, but he hasn't tried Uverse. Let me tell you, if he did, it would be his iPhone over the BB story as its that huge of a differnce. Again. I kept my DTV for awhile in one rm, just in case. If you're going to change from cable, don't go lateral ... Upgrade to U-verse, as it has it all and you'll be very happy you did it.

If I have typo's, I'm sorry ... My child just came in and I haven't time to proof read ... I have to get him back to bed.

I hope this helped and I know DTV lover's are going to bash me! LOL. Its OK ... ;-)
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post #107 of 348
1/18/13 at 5:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MOMager View Post



6) Also there's the new box where you can move it anywhere and that also means you can take your tv with it ... Go outside, etc. You're not stuck in a spot if you want to shift a room around.

lol, yeah I don't see myself moving my big 60" LED screen around the house with this wireless box, outside, etc...not practical. I think the idea of the this box is so you can mount your flat screens in places that the box can't go. So say above the fireplace etc...then you can have to box off somewhere else running on that TV. Moving around a box and tv is not really what most would be doing with this one. You have to be in range of your WiFi as well, for it to work. Something about having my main TV/DVR on WiFi doesn't seem right. The coax bandwidth is what "feels" more right to me. I don't know how this box performs, but I have my suspicions.
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post #108 of 348
1/18/13 at 6:21am
Chris, why exactly are you wanting to switch? Are you keeping AT&T for you Internet service?
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post #109 of 348
1/18/13 at 6:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MOMager View Post

I was a loyal DTV customer. I thouht I'd never switch ... Even though the signal would go out when it was super windy, etc., I loved it. However, what I loved most was the NFL Ticket. About 4 years ago Uverse came by and we opted to try it. We kept our Direct TV in our family room and had Uverse there and in all other rooms. I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO DIRECT TV!!!!!! Here are my reasons:

1) the on demand options for Uverse are so much better. You can go from kids shows, to network to premium chanels and then you can get basically any movie out there, as well ... The new featured movies or just in are at a normal cost for on demand, then there's 100'sof other movies for $2.00's ... If you have the Premium stations, all is catagorized so you never need to pay to see anything you want that's airing on those stations ever at any time (ie: HBO, SHOWTIME, etc.)

2) I like the Uverse HD picture quality better.

3) You can record and watch 4 things at once. I know DTV just made their's 5, but the DVR has less space and Uverse will soon be adding up to 6 at once. Watch a dif as you record ... Love it.

4) The interactive usage is also fabulous. From playing games, to to FB, kids multiview in HD, the family map, HSN by remote, weather and local, a food network app, managing your account, flickr and the uverse interactive channel for everything you want to know and need to know, if you choose.

5) my internet speed is extraordinary and so is my landline service which is so much cheaper having this all hubbed together.

If you are a huge TV watcher, love options, don't want to lose service due to weather, etc. and need fast an dgreat wireless then Uverse is the one you want. Again, I never thought I'd like it. Its so much better ...

6) Also there's the new box where you can move it anywhere and that also means you can take your tv with it ... Go outside, etc. You're not stuck in a spot if you want to shift a room around.

I have a friend who FINALLY just got off his blackberry for his new iphone 5 ... Also a DTV user, lol! He said he would never like the iphone more than the BB. Well, he LOVES his iPhone. He also keeps telling me that nothing compares to DTV, but he hasn't tried Uverse. Let me tell you, if he did, it would be his iPhone over the BB story as its that huge of a differnce. Again. I kept my DTV for awhile in one rm, just in case. If you're going to change from cable, don't go lateral ... Upgrade to U-verse, as it has it all and you'll be very happy you did it.

If I have typo's, I'm sorry ... My child just came in and I haven't time to proof read ... I have to get him back to bed.

I hope this helped and I know DTV lover's are going to bash me! LOL. Its OK ... ;-)
Great first post. I agree with everything you said.
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post #110 of 348
1/18/13 at 9:21am
Thank you!!!!! I was frightened I'd get an opposite response. People who haven't had U-Verse don't get why it's so great. I heard Fios doesn't compare and its even more expensive ... However that's the closet thing to U-Verse. Direct TV is trying really hard to up their anti because satellite, which IS better than cab;e was once in and now with fiber optic and all you get from that, is fading away. Digital is the way to go ... Cable it the new Antenna, Satellite the new cable and fiber optic, i.e.; U-verse the new Satellite ... Its just the best for all your needs.
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post #111 of 348
1/18/13 at 9:22am
Thank you!!!!! I was frightened I'd get an opposite response. People who haven't had U-Verse don't get why it's so great. I heard Fios doesn't compare and its even more expensive ... However that's the closet thing to U-Verse. Direct TV is trying really hard to up their anti because satellite, which IS better than cab;e was once in and now with fiber optic and all you get from that, is fading away. Digital is the way to go ... Cable it the new Antenna, Satellite the new cable and fiber optic, i.e.; U-verse the new Satellite ... Its just the best for all your needs.
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post #112 of 348
1/18/13 at 11:26am
But Uverse isn't fiber to most people's homes. I think you're confusing Uverse with FIOS. Many cable systems now have SDV which is similar to IPTV, giving them plenty of bandwidth, much more than you can get over telephone wires. My cable is second only to FIOS. I routinely get higher bit rates on cable than I ever got on satellite.
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post #113 of 348
1/18/13 at 11:38am
I envy all of you in the USA. Living in Canada we cannot get DTV, Dish, or anything other than Bell, Videotron, Rogers, and Shaw. So, we are stuck with mundane providers and are at the mercy of the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Televison Corp) We do get 2 channels of HBO Canada which are crap, and a few other offerings. Thank god for Netflix and Cinema now. You should all be happy with what is available in the US as we nothing compared to you.
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post #114 of 348
1/18/13 at 12:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisjmccord View Post

Ok thanks. HUB HD is on UVerse, so it sucks to love that in a move over, but I bet its coming soon in HD.

For whatever reason, DirecTv is one of the few providers that doesn't offer it in HD, and it doesn't look like it is coming anytime soon. My kids and I watch it a decent amount on Direct, but it is the one channel I really wish was in HD.
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post #115 of 348
1/18/13 at 3:09pm
I smell a shill
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post #116 of 348
1/18/13 at 4:04pm
Properly set up with Multi-Cast video un-compressed, FTTH can provide much more than HFC, Direct/Dish-Satellite, and U-verse with V-Rad. I know I sound like a big advocate for it but I am since I was in the CATV industry for over 25-years and know that most Cable Companies are losing video customers all the time. Take into account we all have our own opinions and unless you are actually looking at the bandwidth of the your MPEG-2/4 stream to compare what you have now and had before it is tuff to form a technical opinion.
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post #117 of 348
1/19/13 at 3:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fkarassik View Post

You should all be happy with what is available in the US as we nothing compared to you.

 

Like they say, the grass is always greener.

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post #118 of 348
1/19/13 at 3:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rammitinski View Post

Like they say, the grass is always greener.
...over the septic tank.
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post #119 of 348
1/19/13 at 4:01am
To be clear, as was he, I was referring to the state of American television in general.
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post #120 of 348
1/19/13 at 4:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MOMager View Post

I was a loyal DTV customer. I thouht I'd never switch ... Even though the signal would go out when it was super windy, etc., I loved it. However, what I loved most was the NFL Ticket. About 4 years ago Uverse came by and we opted to try it. We kept our Direct TV in our family room and had Uverse there and in all other rooms. I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO DIRECT TV!!!!!! Here are my reasons:

1) the on demand options for Uverse are so much better. You can go from kids shows, to network to premium chanels and then you can get basically any movie out there, as well ... The new featured movies or just in are at a normal cost for on demand, then there's 100'sof other movies for $2.00's ... If you have the Premium stations, all is catagorized so you never need to pay to see anything you want that's airing on those stations ever at any time (ie: HBO, SHOWTIME, etc.)

2) I like the Uverse HD picture quality better.

3) You can record and watch 4 things at once. I know DTV just made their's 5, but the DVR has less space and Uverse will soon be adding up to 6 at once. Watch a dif as you record ... Love it.

4) The interactive usage is also fabulous. From playing games, to to FB, kids multiview in HD, the family map, HSN by remote, weather and local, a food network app, managing your account, flickr and the uverse interactive channel for everything you want to know and need to know, if you choose.

5) my internet speed is extraordinary and so is my landline service which is so much cheaper having this all hubbed together.

If you are a huge TV watcher, love options, don't want to lose service due to weather, etc. and need fast an dgreat wireless then Uverse is the one you want. Again, I never thought I'd like it. Its so much better ...

6) Also there's the new box where you can move it anywhere and that also means you can take your tv with it ... Go outside, etc. You're not stuck in a spot if you want to shift a room around.

I have a friend who FINALLY just got off his blackberry for his new iphone 5 ... Also a DTV user, lol! He said he would never like the iphone more than the BB. Well, he LOVES his iPhone. He also keeps telling me that nothing compares to DTV, but he hasn't tried Uverse. Let me tell you, if he did, it would be his iPhone over the BB story as its that huge of a differnce. Again. I kept my DTV for awhile in one rm, just in case. If you're going to change from cable, don't go lateral ... Upgrade to U-verse, as it has it all and you'll be very happy you did it.

If I have typo's, I'm sorry ... My child just came in and I haven't time to proof read ... I have to get him back to bed.

I hope this helped and I know DTV lover's are going to bash me! LOL. Its OK ... ;-)

No bashing but I couldn't live without Sunday Ticket.
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